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What makes us different from most advisors? The combination of the following:
- Compensation Model: Most financial advisors earn their living partially or fully from commissions on the products they sell, such as front-end-load mutual funds and cash value life insurance. We are Fee-Only planners, which means that our only compensation comes from clients. This eliminates potential conflict of interest between what's best for the client and what makes more money for the planner, and allows us to give you truly independent, objective advice.
- Client Wealth: Most financial advisors target only high net worth clients. For example, many planners have a minimum level of investable assets a prospective client must be willing to invest through them before they are accepted as a client. $100,000, $250,000 and $500,000 are common thresholds. Note that "investable assets" don't include 401(k) plans, since the planner can't directly manage them. Given that 401(k) plans are many workers' largest investment; you can see how few people meet the minimums. In contrast, Busch Financial Planning is structured to serve clients with middle incomes and above.
- Client Temperament: Most financial advisors seek clients who are delegators, i.e., they want to delegate the management of their investments to the advisor. Many of our clients take an interest in their own finances, but want professional advice to ensure they're on the right track. For example, is my allocation between stocks and fixed income investments reasonable for my age? Do I have enough life insurance? Which are the best mutual funds in my 401(k)?
- Services Offered: Most financial planners want to do a full financial plan for you, covering risk management (insurance), investments, retirement planning, tax planning and estate planning. While we believe a comprehensive planning approach is best, middle income clients usually either can't afford the full-blown plan, or don't believe it's worth the cost. Thus we offer services by the hour for their most pressing current needs (a la carte, in other words).
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